Key organisations and links

Organisation Commentary
ADDAMEER (Arabic for conscience) Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

www.addameer.org

Palestinian organisation

A Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. Established in 22%2 by a group of activists interested in human rights, the center offers free legal aid to political prisoners, advocates their rights at the national and international level, and works to end torture and other violations of prisoners’ rights through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns.
Defence for Children International

bornequal.wordpress.com/tag/dci

Palestinian organisation

Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine) is a branch of the international non-governmental child rights organisation and movement, Defence for Children International (DCI). DCI-Palestine is dedicated to promoting and  protecting the rights of Palestinian children in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as well as other international, regional and local standards.
Interpal

www.interpal.org

Palestinian Organisation

Providing support to Palestinian Refugees, in WB,  Gaza and surrounding countries.
The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)

www.wclac.org

Palestinian Organisation

The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling WCLAC vision is for Palestinian women to live in a safe political, social, legal and institutional environment within a sovereign Palestinian state that does not discriminate against them or hinder their social, economic and political progress.WCLAC seeks to promote the social and legal rights of Palestinian women in line with international human rights standards and to reverse the negative legacies of discrimination against them.
World Health Organisation

Mental Health in Palestine

Who-Aims Report on Mental Health System in West Bank and Gaza (2006)
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme

Mental Health in Palestine

www.gazamentalhealth.org

List of articles by GCMHP staff

Mental health needs in Palestine

International Mental Health Collaborating Network (IMHCN)

www.imhcn.org/?page_id=1622

Mental Health in Palestine

Working to provide improved community mental health using the Whole Life, Whole Community, Whole Systems Approach. A world-wide organisation with a branch in Palestine
Palestinian Counseling Centre

www.pcc-jer.org/en

Mental Health in Palestine

Palestinian Medical Education Initiative

www.pmedonline.org

Mental Health in Palestine

An international organization providing medical education and training programs within Palestine, with an emphasis on mental health services
Psychoactive – Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights

www.psychoactive.org.il

Israeli organisation

A group of practicing and academic mental health professionals who have set themselves the goal of being active in areas of social-political concern, especially the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The group developed out of the members’ need to expand therapeutic discourse and practice to include the social and political issues around them. These social and political issues are relevant to all aspects of therapeutic theory and practice, and it is Psychoactive’s goal to shed light on them and to draw attention to their manifold influences on the therapeutic space. In addition, Psychoactive members wish to examine the significance of their position as health professionals within public services and institutions, with the aim of promoting social activity extending beyond the cloistered clinic, for the benefit of individuals and groups whose voice is presently absent from both the public domain and the professional discourse.
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)

www.acri.org.il/en

Israeli organisation

An independent and non-partisan organization, ACRI’s mandate is to ensure Israel’s accountability and respect for human rights, by addressing violations committed by the Israeli authorities in Israel, the Occupied Territories, or elsewhere. ACRI is committed to promoting the universality of human rights and defending the human rights and civil liberties of all, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.
B’Tselem

www.btselem.org

Israeli organisation

B’Tselem is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a culture of human rights discourse in Israel. As an Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem acts primarily to change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government, which controls the Occupied Territories, protects the human rights of residents there and complies with its obligations under international law. B’Tselem’s reports possess a good reputation for their accuracy, and Israeli authorities take the reports seriously. B’Tselem ensures the reliability of information it publishes by conducting its own fieldwork and research and cross-checking its findings with relevant documents, official government sources, and the findings of other non-governmental organizations. The focus on documentation reflects B’Tselem’s objective of providing as much information as possible to the Israeli public to enable individuals to make informed decisions.
Breaking the Silence (BTS)

www.breakingthesilence.org.il

Israeli organisation

An organization of veteran combatants who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories to the Israeli public. BTS endeavors to stimulate public debate  about the price paid for a situation in which young soldiers face a civilian population on a daily basis, and are engaged in the control of those civilians’ everyday lives. Although Israeli soldiers and officers are cognizant of military abuse of Palestinians, many Israeli civilians are unaware of abuses committed in their name. Discharged soldiers returning to civilian life discover the gap between the situation they encountered in the Territories, and the silence about this situation within the Green Line. In order to become civilians again, soldiers are forced to ignore the abuses that they have witnessed and/or perpetrated. BTS collects and publishes testimonies from soldiers who have served in the West Bank,  Gaza and East Jerusalem since September 2000, and hold lectures, house meetings, and other public events which bring to light the reality in the Territories through the voice of former combatants. BTS also conduct tours in Hebron and the South Hebron Hills region, with the aim of giving the Israeli public access to the reality which exists minutes from their own homes, yet is rarely portrayed in the media.
Machsomwatch

machsomwatch.org/en

Israeli organisation

A movement of Israeli women, peace activists from all sectors of Israeli society, who oppose the Israeli occupation and the denial of Palestinians’ rights to move freely in their land. Since 2001, members of Machsomwatch have conducted daily observations of IDF checkpoints in the West Bank, along the separation fence and in the seamline zone, on the main roads and on remote dirt roads, as well as in the offices of the Civil Administration  (DCOs) and in military courts. Machsomwatch volunteers document their observations. The reports of these observations are published on the  Machsomwatch site, and sent to public officials and elected representatives. Through the documentation which discloses the nature of everyday reality, Machsomwatch attempts to influence public opinion in the country and in the world, and thus to bring to an end the destructive occupation, which causes damage to Israeli society as well as to Palestinian society.
No Legal Frontiers (NLF)

nolegalfrontiers.org/index9ed2.html?lang=en

Israeli organisation

An Israeli organisation that lobbies for legislative changes to the treatment of civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and raises awareness of the discrimination prevalent in the military-run civilian justice system in the area. NLF particularly seek to draw attention to the  discrimination in the newly set up juvenile military courts (October 2009).NLF grew out of the realisation that integrating legal work with public advocacy was both possible and essential. NLF aims to expose the situation in the OPT through activism and advocacy. The military law as practiced in the West Bank applies solely to Palestinians. Citizens of Israel resident in the OPT (the “settlers”) are subject to the law as practiced
within Israel. The NLF web site in Arabic, English and Hebrew presents the military law in the West Bank, updates continuing changes in the military laws and makes the legal code easily accessible. Employing Palestinian, Israeli or international lawyers enables NLF to retrieve military orders in three languages in real time on a web site benefits both the individual
clients and the overall system of “justice”.
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI)

stoptorture.org.il/?lang=en

Israeli organisation

PCATI believes that torture and ill treatment of any kind and under all circumstances is incompatible with the moral values of democracy and the rule of law. PCATI advocates for all persons – Israelis, Palestinians, labor immigrants and other foreigners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) – in order to protect them from torture and ill treatment by the Israeli interrogation and law enforcement authorities. These include the Israel Police, the General Security Service (GSS), the Israel Prison Service and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). PCATI acts in accordance with moral and democratic values, and the standards set in Israeli and International law.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel)

www.phr.org.il/en

Israeli organisation

 

A non-profit, non-governmental organization that strives to promote a more fair and inclusive society in which all individuals receive access to adequate health care. It is PHR-Israel’s view that Israel’s prolonged occupation over Palestinian territory is the basis of human rights violations. For this reason PHR-Israel opposes the occupation and endeavor to put an end to it. PHR-Israel’s activity focuses on the right to health in its broadest sense, including conditions that are prerequisites for health: freedom of movement, access to essential medical services, clean water, modern sanitary conditions, proper nutrition, adequate housing, education and employment opportunities, and non-violence. In this spirit, PHR-Israel endeavors to promote a society that is based on the values of human rights, solidarity, social justice, equality and mutual assistance for all populations under Israel’s responsibility. PHR-Israel believes in the power of the Israeli medical community to struggle against human rights violations, torture in particular, and to support policies which ensure the active implementation of the right to health, in accordance with international human rights treaties, the principle of medical ethics. More than half of PHR-Israel’s 1500 members are medical professionals.
Electronic Intifada

electronicintifada.net

Current events

An independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine, its people, politics, culture and place in the world.
Mondoweiss

mondoweiss.net

Current events

An independent website devoted to informing readers about developments in Israel/Palestine and related US foreign policy. Mondoweiss provides news and analysis unavailable through the mainstream media regarding the struggle for Palestinian human rights